Destiny
by Dragon Scales 13
Summary: Yes, I killed you and my own brother, and you hate me for it. But has it ever occured to you that my intentions were not what they seemed? Of course not. Oneshot.


_Destiny_

_Summary: Yes, I killed you and my own brother, and you hate me for it. But has it ever occured to you that my intentions were not what they seemed? Of course not. One-shot._

_**AN: You've seen me write Star of the Dawn, you've seen me review your stories, but now is the time to write from a point of view you don't enjoy watching from... Sun Li's. Yes, he was a traitor and a killer, but maybe, just maybe, he had a good reason for it. Please, give it a try and review your thoughts.**_

_**Destiny**_

It was only a matter of time.

It was only a matter of time before you entered the Spirit Cave for your final test. It was only a matter of time before you discovered the amulet. It was only a matter of time before you would encounter my daughter and leave this small town in serch of your family's true fate.

It was not just time that would lead you to the amulet.

It was destiny.

In all my years as Sun Li, Death's Hand, I've seen what effect the Gods have on men and women touched by their powers. Powers that could allow one person to change the fate of a battle, a war, a nation... And maybe even the great beyond.

Take, for example, Sagacious Tien. He had many an obstacle, but he also had Heaven's favor with him. By reality, that should have never been enough to create your own nation from scratch, nevermind it lasting for centuries, but the Jade Empire is still standing, even though Sagacious has long since passed to the other realm.

I've seen what God's do, and I learn from it. I do not act at being a God, but I learn their trade: manipulation.

The Gods control lives through trickery, cheats, lies and turning the tides against one who attempts to stray from the path laid out before them. By leading humans through since the beggining, one is prodded and cajoled- sometimes forcefully- into a set station in life or turned into an unwilling pawn in the God's eternal game of chess.

_This_ is what we call destiny. We try to make it sound like a blessing, something to look forward to as we struggle through the falsehoods and cruelties of our pale existance on this world, brainwashed into becoming willing pawns of Gods who care little of our safety and happiness.

I believe we should carve our own destinies in life, child, and so you have.

I could not change your destiny, something the Gods may have granted you, but I could alter it myself.

I could not stop you from finding the amulet, but I could change _when _you find it.

Why would I do that?

It is simply, really. See it from my view.

My brother was ailing, but he decides to help his people- they depend on him for their own safety, after all- with their biggest problem: The Drought.

As soon as we reached Dirge, the monks refuse to let us end the Drought, claiming that this was a normal circle of life and that changing such a thing would result in disaster.

Can you believe the audicity? They would turn down the Emperor, their own people, to back some diety who cared little enough about us that she let hundreds- no, thousands of people die from starvation and thirst just because its _the natural order_ of human life?

We couldn't simply stand by and let people suffer because someone who obviously never dared to venture out and look at the suffering she caused said we couldn't. We simply could not abide by such a rule that could destory so many lives.

The rest was history. We attacked the Spirit Monks soon after, slaughtering them by the hundreds, turning some to our side and letting others bleed and die on the steps of their important shrine.

We didn't attack because we simply felt like it. We attacked because we had to. There was no other way, but it does not mean that day never haunts me. It haunts me still, watching the fools give up their lives for pure belief, but it was necessary.

That day, my brother became mad with power. The ailing ruler had become corrupted by his own very human desire, even more so because he was getting closer to death everday.

He wanted to _be a God._

And that was to be his downfall. Sun Kin and I planned for hours about this moment, the moment when we would betray our brother, intentions mixed with knowing its the right thing to save the Empire, and our own petty jealousies.

Of course, I had my own agenda. While my little brother carefully awaited his chance to fufill his destiny, so he called it, I went off in search of a child I heard escaped the massacre.

A sure-fire sign of being touched by a God. By the time I caught you and your savior, I heard of Sun Kin's supposed death, and so I escaped.

Then your own story began. Slowly, I plotted against my older brother, carefully manipulating you and gently prodding you to hold my beliefs. Then, I lead you to the cave when I was prepared, already studying my lines for when you finished the trials, only to learn you've had a vision, from the Water Dragon, no less.

Gods. Can't keep to their own business or relinquish their hold on their toys.

But I planned this day for decades, and I couldn't stop now.

The rest you know. You saved Dawn Star, you inevitably ended up at Tien's Landing, seeing the destruction my brother caused, and learned bits and pieces from the Dragon herself.

It was only after you killed my powerful brother that you realized you've been used. It pained me to do it- you were almost my own child- but it had to be done. With you still alive, there was a risk of the Water Dragon restoring the Drought and destroying the hard work and sacrifices my family has made.

Of course, the Gods had their way and I was inevitably defeated.

But tell me, was I really all that evil just because I wanted the best for the Empire? Would I have been as bad as my brother became as a ruler? Would it have been better if I never caused you to destroy him?

Hmm, I suppose I _did _cause you to destroy him after all. I actually caused you to do a lot of things. I did control your life, after all.

Maybe the Gods had their hand in my life as well, manipulating me on my own path to destruction. Maybe this was all planned by a higher power in the first place.

Maybe this was all my own destiny, and it ended up crossing yours.

Perhapsthis was _both, no, ALL _of our destinies... Dawn Star, Silk Fox, Sagacious Zu... Even Kia Min and Kindly Yushuan.

Yes, it was our destiny...


End file.
